Six people die and dozens rescued after boat carrying migrants sinks in Channel
Six men from Afghanistan have died and two are still missing at sea after a boat carrying migrants from the war-ravaged country sank in the English Channel this morning, French authorities have said.
Harrowing images of people struggling in the sinking boat, and others of people clinging on to the side of a vessel while struggling in the cold water have emerged. A rescue operation involving five French ships, one helicopter and two British ships was launched this morning after the boat sank off the coast of Northern France, a statement from France's Maritime Prefecture of the Channel and the North Sea said.
The RNLI said a lifeboat crew was sent to the Channel in the early hours of the morning. Around 50 were rescued and a number of people were seen being brought off a lifeboat on stretchers in Dover. An emergency services source said the victims perished "at around 5am in poor conditions" on Saturday after trying to get to Britain on a voyage organised by people smugglers.
"Around 45 people were saved, and a rescue operation is still underway, but some five people are thought to have died," the source said soon after 11am. The source said some 66 people were thought to be aboard "one or maybe two boats" that sunk. He said that 55 people had been found by late morning, with 11 still missing. He said: "Bodies were lifted out of the water and those in the worst condition were transported to hospital by helicopter."
Among the six victims was a man in his 20s who was evacuated by a French helicopter but he was later declared dead on arrival in Le Touquet. None of the six men's identities have been released and it is not known if their families are aware of their deaths. French prosecutors have now opened a criminal enquiry into this morning's disaster which will also investigate another boat sinking this afternoon, where 22 people needed rescuing, with one in a critical condition in hospital.
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A spokesperson for the French Coastguard said: "This Saturday, August 12 the regional operational center for surveillance and rescue (CROSS) Gris-Nez is informed by the public service patrol boat Cormoran that a migrant boat was sinking off Sangatte. The Cormorant then launched its semi-rigid to rescue the castaways. In parallel, the CROSS Gris Nez mobilised.
"At this stage, under the coordination of the CROSS Gris Nez, about 50 people were rescued, some of them by British means. Unfortunately, six people were recovered in serious condition and one of them, evacuated by helicopter to the hospital in Calais was declared dead. An investigation was opened by the Boulogne public prosecutor's office."
The rescue operation was launched in the early hours of this morning (Invicta Kent Media/REX/Shutterstock)Elisabeth Borne, France's prime minister, said: "This morning, a migrant boat capsized off Calais. My thoughts are with the victims. I salute the commitment of the rescue teams mobilized around the Navy, which saved around fifty shipwrecked people." Ms Borne said Herve Berville, France’s Seas Minister, was on his way to Calais.
According to the French authorities, at least 37 people were also collected by French boats and three by a British chartered ship. Rescue teams from Folkestone and Langdon Bay along with paramedics from South East Coast Ambulance have also been sent to respond, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) said.
An HM Coastguard spokesman said: "HM Coastguard is currently assisting the French authorities, Gris Nez, in a search and rescue response to an incident involving a small boat in the Channel. Dover RNLI lifeboat has been sent as part of that assistance with Folkestone and Langdon Bay coastguard rescue teams. South East Coast Ambulance has also been sent. HM Coastguard will continue to work with search and rescue partners to respond to those in distress around the seas and coastal areas of the UK."
The Boulogne prosecutor's office has opened a judicial investigation into the tragedy, said the source. Home Secretary Suella Braverman will chair a meeting with Border Force officials later. A UK Government spokesperson said: "We are aware of an incident in the Channel. HM Coastguard are working on a co-ordinated response and further information will be provided in due course." It is understood Ms Braverman will hold the meeting with Small Boats Operational Command Gold on Saturday morning.
Babies were among the rescued migrants (Invicta Kent Media/REX/Shutterstock)It comes almost two years to the day since the worst English Channel migrant boat disaster ever saw 27 people drown. Their inflatable dinghy collapsed beneath them on November 24, 2021, and they were later identified as 16 Kurds from Iraqi Kurdistan, four Afghans, and five other nationalities. French emergency workers in a telephone centre were later blamed for failing to answer their distress calls properly, but the people smugglers responsible for organising the boat have never been brought to justice.
Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said it is "desperately" necessary to stop dangerous crossings and "the terrible criminal smuggling gangs who profit while lives are lost." Shadow immigration minister Stephen Kinnock said the latest incident was an "appalling, deeply shocking tragedy".
Enver Solomon, chief executive of the Refugee Council, said the incident "underscores the need for meaningful action" to reduce dangerous crossings, and urged the Government to focus on creating an "orderly and humane asylum system". "We are deeply saddened by the tragic loss of life in today's sinking of a boat in the English Channel. Our hearts go out to the victims, survivors, and their loved ones. We also thank the rescuers who helped save many lives under harrowing circumstances," he said.
He accused the Government of "focusing on passing expensive and unworkable legislation and shutting down existing safe ways to get to the UK", adding: "There are constructive alternatives we have set out that would create an orderly and humane asylum system." Natalie Elphicke, Conservative MP for Dover, said the fatal incident reinforced the need for joint patrols in the Channel.
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She said: "Today's tragedy underlines why we must stop the small boats to keep people safe and prevent loss of life in the Channel. These overcrowded and unseaworthy deathtraps should obviously be stopped by the French authorities from leaving the French coast in the first place. The time has come for joint patrols on the French coast and a cross-Channel security zone before any more lives are lost."
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